Chair base

ABSTRACT

A chair base includes a vertical column from which radiate a plurality of legs each having a top plate and a caster-receiving socket adjacent its distal portion. An end cap is removably mounted about the socket while a separate integral scuff cap is slidably attached in an overlying manner to each leg and extends in an upward direction to overlie a portion of the base column.

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Sates 'lextoris [451 Dec. 12,1972

1 1 CHAIR BASE [72] Inventor: Melvin A. Teirtoris, Struthers, Ohio [73]Assignee: The General Fireproofing Company,

Youngstown, Ohio [22] Filed: March 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 121,854

[52] US. Cl ..248/188.7 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6m 11/20 [58] Field of Search..248/l88.7, 188.8, 431, 345.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,617,023 11/1971Schneiderman ..248/188.7

526,834 10/1894 l-letterschied ..2'48/188.7 2,193,719 3/1940 Foote..248/345.1 2,217,754 10/1940 Johnson ..248/188.7

McKinley ..248/188.7

Scherer Good Hamilton Lee Armstrong ..248/l88.7

Primary ExaminerMarion Parsons, Jr. Attorney-Emory L. Groff and Emory L.Groff, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A chair base includes a vertical column from which radiatea plurality of legs each having a top plate and a caster-receivingsocket adjacent its distal portion. An end cap is removably mountedabout the socket while a separate integral scuff cap is slidablyattached in an overlying manner to each leg and extends in an upwarddirection to overlie a portion of the base column.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED BEE 12 m2 SHEET 1 0F 2 ill/[IL ATTOR NE Y m8 m m m4 W A NY 5 M PATENTED on: 12 m2 3.7 05,7 )4

sum 2 or z INVENTOR MELVIN A TEXTORIS ATTORNEY CHAIR BASE This inventionrelates generally to furniture and, more particularly, to the supportingstructure or base of an office appliance such as a stenographic chair.

Many office chairs having a pedestal type of base include a centralvertical column from which extend a plurality of radiating legs havingswivel casters at their distal portions, thus providing a cruciformarrangement projecting beneath the chair in the area proximate to theusers feet. Accordingly, it is most desirable to provide means on thechair base to preclude scuffing of the users footwear. Many of the priorart devices include anti-scuff means comprising a cover assemblyattached to and overlying the structure of a chair base however, mostsuch arrangements comprise a cumbersome device greatly enlarging theresultant size of the chair base and usually requiring special separatefastening means for securing the device to the legs of the chair base.

The present invention seeks to overcome the objections to presentlyknown chair bases having scuff caps by providing a unique chair baseassembly including a separate cover or cap which is slidably attached toeach leg of the chair by means of integral means forming a part of thecap, and wherein this cap not only overlies and completely masks theupper portion of each leg, but also extends upwardly to overlie and abuta portion of the periphery of the chair base column.

Included in the present invention is a unique toe cap which is slidablyattached to the distal portion of each leg in the area adapted toreceive a conventional swivel caster and which cooperates with theoutermost portion of each cover element whereby this cover serves toprovide locking means retaining the toe cap in its use position.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide an improved chair base assembly, including a cruciformarrangement of outwardly radiating legs attached to a central verticalcolumn, and having a separate scuff cap slidably attached to andoverlying the entire upper portion of each leg.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved chairbase including a plurality of outwardly extending legs, each including ahorizontal plate having a lower vertical web attached thereto and aremovable cover member having lateral flanges adapted to slidably engagesaid horizontal plate in a masking relationship.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a chair baseleg comprising rigidly attached upper and lower elements with a toe capremovably attached to the distal portion of the leg and retained inposition by means of a slidable cover element overlying the upperelement of the leg.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedchair base assembly including a vertical central chair base column fromwhich extend a plurality of radiating legs and wherein a SEPARATEintegral cover element is removably attached to each leg and extendsfrom its distal portion towards its base column and thence upwardly inoverlying relationship to a portion of the base column periphery.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is understood, the invention consists of thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated, and claimed:

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a fragmentary transverse sectional view through the chair baseof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the end structure of one of the chair baselegs of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the toe cap of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an outside end elevation of the toe cap of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 and illustrates another embodiment ofthe toe cap.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the toe cap in FIG. 8.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGS. 1 and 5, the presentinvention will be seen to relate to a chair base including a centralvertical column 1 having a plurality of legs, generally designated 2,radiating outwardly from the lower portion thereof. Each of the legs 2,which are disposed substantially in a horizontal plane, includes avertical web 3 having a lower edge 4 preferably flush with the bottom ofthe column 1 and an upper edge 5 which defines a straight line 6 alongthe major portion of its extent from the distal portion 7 of the web toa point short of the column 1. As will be seen most clearly in FIG. 1, acurved portion 8 isprovided from the innermost terminus of the straightportion 6 to the point of contact with the periphery of the chair basecolumn 1.

Overlying the entire extent of the web upper edge 5 is a horizontallydisposed plate 9 which is preferably of constant width and includes anouter edge 10 projecting beyond the distal portion 7 of the vertical web3. In asmuch as this horizontal plate 9 is in full contact with theunderlying upper edge 5 of the web, it will follow that the plate willinclude a straight portion 11 juxtaposed the web straight portion 6 aswell as a curved portion 12 juxtaposed the curved portion 8 of the web.

Adjacent the distal portion 7 of each leg web 3 is a vertically disposedcaster-receiving socket 13, the upper portion of which may extendthrough an opening 14 provided through the horizontal plate 9. Thiscaster socket 13 is rigidly attached to the leg assemblyby means of aweld bead 15 about the outer periphery of the socket adjacent theundersurface of the horizontal plate 9 as shown most clearly in FIG. 4.

The scuff member or cap, generally designated 16, comprises a unitaryelement which is preferably formed by stamping and bending of a metallicmaterial having a thickness for example of 20 gage but which may quiteobviously be formed of other materials such as plastic. The selectedmaterial should possess a minimum degree of inherent resilience forreasons which will become obvious hereinafter. Each cap element 16includes a top portion 17 which is bowed in cross section throughout itslength and includes a straight outwardly projecting section 18corresponding in length to the straight portion 1 l of the basehorizontal plate 9, together with a curved section 19 adapted to extendin a juxtaposed manner above the curved portion 12 of the plate 9 andwhich curved section 19 is joined to an uppermost vertical section 20,attached to and overlying a portion of the periphery of the chair basecolumn 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

Extending downwardly from each lateral edge of the cap top portion 17 isa side wall 21 from which further extends a return flange 22 projectinginwardly from each side wall 21 substantially at right angles thereto asshown in FIG. 3. It will be evident that the height of each side wall 21is substantially comparable to the thickness of the horizontal plate 9,while it will be important to note that the latter mentioned flanges 22extend only from the distal portion of each cap 16 for a longitudinaldistance corresponding to the length of the straight portion 1 1 of thehorizontal plate 9. In the area of the distal portion of the cap, theside wall 21 is curved to provide the rounded outer edge 23 as shown inFIGS. 1 and 5.

The toe cap, generally designated 24, is preferably formed of plasticcomposition and may comprise a unitary element molded to provide thedisclosed construction which includes a frusto-conical configurationhaving a side wall 25 tapering inwardly towards the base 26. Verticallyextending through the toe cap is a caster socket bore 27, the upperportion of which communicates with a countersink area 28 which in turncommunicates with the planar top wall 29. This top wall is inclined fromthe horizontal an amount corresponding to the slight inclination of thestraight portion of the chair base horizontal plate 9 for reasons whichwill become obvious hereinafter.

One side of the toe cap body includes a radial slot passing completelythrough the toe cap in the upper portion thereof with the width of thisslot substantially corresponding to the thickness of the chair base legvertical web 3. With the foregoing structure in mind, it will be seenthat the toe cap 24 may be initially attached to the distal portion ofeach leg 2 by inserting the caster socket 13 within the socket bore 27of the toe cap while the toe cap slot 30 straddles the distal portion 7of the vertical web 3. The toe cap is pushed upwardly until the top wall29 thereof abuts the undersurface of separate horizontal plate 9 of theleg and in this position it will be seen that the weld bead 15 securingthe caster socket 13 to the leg assembly will be disposed within thearea provided by the countersink 28 in the toe cap. The vertical heightof the slot 30 is selected to insure that the lower edge 4 of the legweb 3 will abut the bottom 31 thereof when the toe cap is thus finallypositioned. From the above, it will follow that rotary displacement ofthe toe cap is thus precluded in view of the engagement between thevertical web 3 and the slot 30.

Another feature of the toe cap 24 of the present invention is theprovision of peripheral groove 32 formed in a portion of each toe capintermediate the juncture of the side wall 25 and top wall 29 thereof.As most clearly shown in FIG. 6, this groove 32 extends approximately180 about the top portion of the toe cap.

Assembly of the various components comprising the present chair basewill now be explained. Assuming the leg structure 2 is fully constructedas shown in FIG. 5, the final assembly of the scuff cap 16 and toe cap24 for each leg 2 may be readily accomplished, even by the ultimate userof the chair base. The toe caps 24 are each installed about therespective caster sockets 33 as previously described. Thereafter, aseparate scuff cap 16 is mounted upon each outwardly radiating leg 2 inthe manner shown in FIG. 5 wherein it will be understood that as thevertical section 20 of the cap 16 is moved in the direction of thearrows toward the chair base column 1, the depending side walls 21-21will be guided into overlying relationship with the lateral edges 9a ofthe horizontal plate 9. As soon as the innermost edges of the returnflanges 22-22 engage the undersurface of the horizontal plate 9 thescuff cap 16 is precluded from vertical displacement away from the baseleg 2 and may only be moved in an inwardly or outwardly radial directionwith respect to the chair base column 1. The inwardly movement of thecap is continued until sidewalls 21-21 in the area of the verticalsection 20 abut the outer periphery of the chair base column, at whichpoint it will be understood the return flanges 22-22 completely engagethe entire extent of the straight portion 11 of the horizontal plate 9while the rounded outer edge 23 of the cap will be disposed within theperipheral groove 32 of the toe cap.

With the foregoing described arrangement, it is not necessary to utilizeseparate fastening means to secure either the scuff cap or toe cap intheir use positions. The security of the scuff cap is enhanced by thebowed construction of the cap top portion 17 and the inherent resilienceof the material forming the cap such that a natural constant grippingaction will at all times be present. Not only is the inherent resiliencerelied upon in a transverse manner as shown in FIG. 3 but also it willbe understood that by initially forming each scuff cap 16 so that theupper portion of the vertical section 20 is normally disposed inwardlytowards the central axis of the column 1 prior to final assembly, itwill be seen that when the scuff cap is moved to its final mountedposition a spring-loaded condition will exist with the scuff cap furthertending to provide the desired self-locking feature.

I claim:

1. A chair base including, a central chair supporting column, aplurality of legs rigidly affixed to and radiating from said column,separate cover means overlying each of said legs and individuallymountable thereon, each said cover means comprising a unitary covermember including longitudinally projecting section, a verticallyextending section and an intermediate upwardly curved section, saidlongitudinally projecting section extending inwardly from the distalportion of each leg to said curved section juxtaposed the juncture ofsaid leg and column, said vertically extending section overlying andbiased against the periphery of said column above the plane of saidlegs, and each said cover means including integral locking meanscomprising flanges along the lower portion of said longitudinallyprojecting section engageable with said leg as said cover means isslidably attached thereto and fully overlies the upper portion of saidrespective leg.

2. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, said cover means includesa top portion adapted to overlie said leg and a portion of said column,a side wall depending from each lateral edge of said top portion, andsaid flanges project inwardly from said side walls.

3. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, each said leg-includes avertical web attached to the undersurface of a horizontal plate and saidcover means overlies and engages said plate.

4. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, each said leg includes ahorizontal plate having a straight portion adjacent the distal end ofthe leg provided with substantially parallel lateral edges, and saidlocking flanges on said cover member longitudinal section are engageablebeneath said plate lateral edges.

5. A chair base according to claim 3 including, a caster-receivingsocket element adjacent the end of the undersurface of said horizontalplate, a toe cap having a central bore slidably mounted about saidsocket element beneath said cover means.

6. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said side wall extendsabout the distal portion of said cover top portion to provide an outeredge engageable with the distal portion of said leg.

7. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said top portion isarcuate in cross-section.

8. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said cover means is formedof resilient material whereby the inherent resilience thereof providesthe sole attaching force.

9. A chair base including, a central chair supporting column, aplurality of legs radiating from said column, each said leg including avertical web attached to the undersurface of a horizontal plate,separate cover means overlying and engaging each of said leg plates,each said cover means extending inwardly from the distal portion of eachleg to said central column and thence upwardly adjacent the periphery ofthe column, a caster-receiving socket element adjacent the end of theundersurface of said horizontal plate, a toe cap having a central boreslidably mounted about said socket element beneath said cover means,said toe cap including a peripheral groove adjacent the upper portionthereof, and said cover means including locking means engageable withsaid leg as said cover means is slidably attached thereto and fullyoverlies'the upper portion of the leg, with the distal portion of saidcover means fitted within said toe cap groove.

1. A chair base including, a central chair supporting column, a plurality of legs rigidly affixed to and radiating from said column, separate cover means overlying each of said legs and individually mountable thereon, each said cover means comprising a unitary cover member including longitudinally projecting section, a vertically extending section and an intermediate upwardly curved section, said longitudinally projecting section extending inwardly from the distal portion of each leg to said curved section juxtaposed the juncture of said leg and column, said vertically extending section overlying and biased against the periphery of said column above the plane of said legs, and each said cover means including integral locking means comprising flanges along the lower portion of said longitudinally projecting section engageable with said leg as said cover means is slidably attached thereto and fully overlies the upper portion of said respective leg.
 2. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, said cover means includes a top portion adapted to overlie said leg and a portion of said column, a side wall depending from each lateral edge of said top portion, and said flanges project inwardly from said side walls.
 3. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, each said leg includes a vertical web attached to the undersurface of a horizontal plate and said cover means overlies and engages said plate.
 4. A chair base according to claim 1 wherein, each said leg includes a horizontal plate having a straight portion adjacent the distal end of the leg provided with substantially parallel lateral edges, and said locking flanges on said cover member longitudinal section are engageable beneath said plate lateral edges.
 5. A chair base according to claim 3 including, a caster-receiving socket element adjacent the end of the undersurface of said horizontal plate, a toe cap having a central bore slidably mounted about said socket element beneath said cover means.
 6. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said side wall extends about the distal portion of said cover top portion to provide an outer edge engageable with the distal portion of said leg.
 7. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said top portion is arcuate in cross-section.
 8. A chair base according to claim 2 wherein, said cover means is formed of resilient material whereby the inherent resilience thereof provides the sole attaching force.
 9. A chair base including, a central chair supporting column, a plurality of legs radiating from said column, each said leG including a vertical web attached to the undersurface of a horizontal plate, separate cover means overlying and engaging each of said leg plates, each said cover means extending inwardly from the distal portion of each leg to said central column and thence upwardly adjacent the periphery of the column, a caster-receiving socket element adjacent the end of the undersurface of said horizontal plate, a toe cap having a central bore slidably mounted about said socket element beneath said cover means, said toe cap including a peripheral groove adjacent the upper portion thereof, and said cover means including locking means engageable with said leg as said cover means is slidably attached thereto and fully overlies the upper portion of the leg, with the distal portion of said cover means fitted within said toe cap groove. 